6 Easy Tips to Ensure a Clean Kitchen Countertop

Your kitchen is likely to be the one room of your house that sees the most footfalls. It’s also the kitchen where you store all your foodstuff, keep the leftover food and organic waste for disposal.

The whole kitchen, therefore, requires a lot of care to remain in a clean and hygienic condition. Plus, it requires deep cleaning once in a while in order to keep your cabinets, countertops and appliances last longer. And the kitchen countertop is where most of the action takes place including watching your favorite Netflix show.

You may not only prepare your food on your countertop but eat it as well. Kids and pets may like to sit on the countertop and when you are entertaining guests, they may gather in the kitchen and place their drinks glasses on the countertop.

Overall, the countertop takes a lot of beating and you need to pay attention to ensure it remains clean so that it looks elegant and the material goes the distance and you don’t have to incur expenses to replace your kitchen countertops.

Here are a few essential tips to ensure a clean kitchen countertop to keep your kitchen looking sparkling new.

Refinish Your Countertops

One way to ensure your kitchen countertops acquire a shiny new look is to refinish them instead of replacing them wholesale. This will be less expensive than going for new countertops. The cost will vary depending on your locality and the type of finish — epoxy, laminate, paint & sealant — you choose.

Know Your Countertop Material

You must ensure your cleaning process suits your countertop material. A cleaning process that works on one countertop material may not work on another. We look at a few countertop cleaning tips below for different kitchen countertop material types.

Ceramic Tile Countertops: Ceramic tiles are easy to clean and maintain but the biggest challenge is cleaning the grout. You’ll need to use grout cleaner two or three times per year to keep your ceramic tile countertops in top shape. You may also use a baking soda and water solution for grout cleaning or you may hire professionals to do the cleaning.

Laminate Countertops: Use a soft, damp cloth and mild household cleaner to clean your laminate kitchen countertops. A mix of baking soda and water will help remove stains. Make a paste, apply it to the stain, let it stay for five minutes, and finally rinse with a soft cloth. Avoid scrubbing laminate countertops with rough brushes.

Any liquid spills should be wiped up immediately to avoid stains on the laminate surface.

Natural Stone Countertops: Natural stone countertops look great but are prone to getting stained based on how much affinity they have for water. These need to be sealed regularly to prevent stains. You can use water and mild detergent to clean them but steer clear of acidic stuff such as citrus cleaners.

Quartz Countertops: It’s easy to clean quartz countertops with mild detergent and water. Even though these are stain resistant, if an occasional stain is there, use nonabrasive glass cleaner and nonabrasive sponge to wipe it off.

Stainless Steel Countertops: Keeping stainless steel countertops is a breeze as that requires nothing more than regularly wiping the surface with a mild detergent and water mix. Better yet, use stainless steel cleaner and a microfiber towel to buff the surface free from smudges and streaks. Abrasive scrubbing pads and steel wool should be avoided as they can scratch the stainless steel.

Wood Countertops: Using a nonabrasive cleaner or warm water with a splash of white vinegar to clean wood countertops daily is a fine way to keep the wood countertops in fine shape. Don’t leave the surface damp as wood will absorb the water and create stains.

If there are any food stains, sprinkle salt on the stain and rub the salt with half a lemon. Clean them with water and vinegar mix.

Marble and Granite Countertops: For regular/everyday cleaning of marble and granite countertops, a mix of warm water and mild detergent will work while abrasive and acidic cleaners are to be avoided as they can damage the sealer.

For stains on marble and granite countertops, a mix of baking soda and water will work for oil-based stains. Apply paste to the stain and let it sit for a few days and then rinse it. Repeat the process if the stain is not completely removed.

Glass Countertops: Homemade cleaning solutions will work to clean glass countertops but do not use rough brushes or scouring pads on the glass countertops as those may lead to scratches on the surface.

Create a Maintenance Schedule

It would be useful to have a schedule for cleaning just as with dental visits or replacing smoke detector. Let the schedule track the seasons or when you have vacation time.

Get Organized

A well-organized kitchen helps you boost productivity and stay focused. If you are not careful, the countertop area can become chaotic. Don’t let cellphone chargers, bills or other paperwork accumulate on the countertop. Clean the clutter daily, or weekly, on your day off.

Perhaps you can designate one of your kitchen cabinets for storing junk items if you have a large kitchen with lots of storage space.

Use Natural Solutions

Cleaning the Work Surface

Natural cleaning solutions are preferable to commercial cleaning products especially when it comes to the areas where food is prepared. Baking soda, lemon, salt, vinegar and essential oils are useful materials for cleaning as long as your particular countertop material can handle them.

Don’t Let Spills Sit

Letting the inevitable oil spills stay is one way to ensure your kitchen countertop will get a stain. So, better to have a damp towel always available when you are cooking to wipe away any spills and also you should wipe the area clean when you are done preparing food.

Final Thoughts

Kitchen countertops are the part of your kitchen that take the maximum beating and clean kitchen countertop gives your kitchen a nice look.

The way to go about achieving that is to ensure there is no kitchen clutter or junk lying around on the countertops just because you have a large and spacious kitchen and additionally, making sure you follow a regular cleaning routine.

Once you get into the habit, it will be easy and it can even be fun. Just let your favorite Netflix show play on the laptop while you are cleaning your kitchen countertop.